Chain Attack (XC1)
Chain Attacks are battle mechanics in Xenoblade Chronicles. They are possible when the three bars of the party gauge are full. If two or more members of the party can perform a chain attack, blue lines connecting the members will be shown on the screen. Time stops when a character initiates a chain attack, so status effects that would normally wear off after a few seconds will stay around during chain attacks, and no character or enemy will suffer the effects of the Blaze, Chill, Bleed, or Poison debuffs until the chain attack ends. (This only applies Buffs/Debuffs wearing off over time. Attacks such as Say Sorry and Tempest Kick will still remove certain effects as per their descriptions mid-Chain Attack.) After each attack it moves on to the next character. They attack, and so on. After the final character who is able to do so attacks, a B may appear on the screen, depending on the affinity between the party members and their tension. Defeating an enemy during a chain attack fills the party gauge by one bar and awards double EXP, AP and SP. If there are more enemies currently engaged in battle when this happen, all party members will select a new target to continue the chain attack. Added effects will become more potent during chain attacks. In order to Topple a Faced Mechon, for example, an attack that inflicts Break must be used in a chain attack, followed by an attack that inflicts Topple, as they will resist these arts otherwise. Break, Topple and Daze can be chained to keep the enemy down for longer. The multiplier on the side of the screen will only register more than "x1" if an attack of the same color is used. For example, if Shulk uses Back Slash, followed by Reyn using Hammer Beat and finishing with Sharla using Head Shot, the multiplier will be raised to "x3" because all three arts are red. The maximum multiplier is "x5", and will appear as "Chain MAX" on the screen. Talent Arts act as wildcards, and can be used after any color to extend the multiplier; they can also be used to switch colors without losing the multiplier. For example, if Shulk uses Back Slash, a red art, Melia uses her Talent Art, Elemental Discharge, and Sharla uses Heal Round, a blue art, the multiplier will end up being "x3" and blue. All of the Monado Arts (i.e. Monado Buster, Monado Enchant) are treated as Talent Arts. Sharla's Talent Art, Cool Off, cannot be used in a Chain Attack, while Melia's Talent Art, Elemental Discharge, can be used as long as she has an element summoned. It also must be noted that no matter what stage arts were in cooldown, they will automatically be ready for use; however, if the chain returns to the first party member, the art used first will no longer be available. This does not transfer to the characters once the Chain Attack ends, and all arts are returned to the cooldown stages they had before the Chain Attack was initiated. This does not apply to Talent Arts, however, as they will only be available during the Chain Attack if they were ready to use when it was initiated. If a Talent Art is used during a chain attack and its gauge is depleted, that gauge will remain empty when the chain attack ends. Arts that require a special criteria in order to be used will carry that restriction during a chain attack. Dunban's Thunder can only be used if there is an enemy behind him to take the attack, and will be unavailable if there is no target behind him. Arts that can combo, however, can still gain their added effects. If Dunban starts a chain attack with Gale Slash, allows his teammates to attack, and then gets another attack afterwards, he can follow up with Electric Gutbuster and still be awarded its effect. Likewise, if Dunban were to use Gale Slash before ''starting the chain attack, initiated it, and then chose Electric Gutbuster as his first move, he would still gain the added effect. It should be noted, however, that initiating a chain attack can cancel an art during its execution. If Dunban selects Gale Slash, then initiates the Chain Attack before Gale Slash can be fully performed, he will ''not ''be awarded the added effect if he were to use Electric Gutbuster at this point. There are some groups of enemies that can use Chain Attacks against the party. For example, the six High Entia assassins fought in Alcamoth will occasionally use Chain Attacks. In the throne room of the Exile Fortress, in the same room where the Reckless Godwin is fought, groups of three Ignas can initiate their own Chain Attacks. Enemies' Chain Attacks are marked with red lines instead of a blue. In ''Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U Shulk appears as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, with his Final Smash being a Chain Attack with Dunban and Riki. Notes * All enemies, except for most flying enemies, have no resistance to Break during a Chain Attack. * When a "B" prompt appears on the screen, the ring's converging speed increases as the number of chain links increases. * Due to the time freezing nature of chain attacks and the fact that status effects such as buffs and debuffs won't wear off over time, certain combinations of attacks are possible during Chain Attacks that would be very difficult to pull off otherwise. ** Dunban's Thunder forces Daze and can circumvent the immunity to Break and Topple that many monsters have, including flying ones. This can give Sharla the opportunity to use Head Shot and inflict Instant Death. However, Daze only lasts for two seconds, so initiating a Chain Attack immediately after using Thunder can give Sharla an added advantage. ** Monado Cyclone can be very useful to Topple an entire group of enemies if paired with Shulk's Stream Edge. As a drawback, though, Monado Cyclone takes a very long to pull off (as is common with most Monado arts), so waiting until a Chain Attack to perform it can help circumvent this issue. ** Topple and Daze in general are so much more potent during Chain Attacks because those debuffs wear off very quickly, and an enemy can even get up from a Topple before a Daze art can be successfully performed. When inflicted during a chain attack, these effects won't even begin to wear off until the attack is over. * During Chain Attacks, party members are immune to debuffs, so spikes (such as those that inflict Sleep or Topple) can be safely dispelled or ignored. * Sharla cannot participate in Chain Attacks during her cooldown stage. Riki cannot participate when he is playing dead. * Party members cannot participate in Chain Attacks if they are incapacitated, Toppled, Dazed, asleep, confused, or have been blown down. * Chain Attacks can be still initiated if a party member cannot participate due to the reasons listed above. * More critical damage can be inflicted if the enemy is Toppled or Dazed during a Chain Attack. * Chain Attacks can be abused. This video demonstrates one of several ways. * The multipliers in a Chain Attack can be calculated as followed: ** "x1" = damage x 1 ** "x2" = damage x 2 ** "x3" = damage x 4 ** "x4" = damage x 6 ** "MAX" = damage x 8 * Party members gain a 10% damage boost in high tension and a 20% damage boost in very high tension. * Party members gain a 15% critical hit rate boost in high tension and a 30% critical hit rate boost in very high tension. * The maximum consecutive chain links is fifteen. * Chain link rate can be calculated by the following: tension level + 30 * (affinity points between members / 5,000) + skill links + B button press accuracy. ** Tension level parameters are as followed: *** Very low tension = 0 *** Low tension = 15 *** Normal = 20 *** High tension = 25 *** Very high tension = 30 ** Skill links come from Shulk's Humanity skill line and Reyn's Camaraderie skill line, if applicable. If the B button is pressed just when the ring lands on the rim of the circle, the chain link for the next battle member is increased by 20%. Otherwise, there is no chain link bonus. Gallery Chainattacks2 large.png|Part 1 of a Chain Attack Chain attack on Junk Bunnit.jpg|Part 2 of a Chain Attack red.png|A Chain Attack using the same art color daze.png|A Chain Attack using Break - Topple - Daze Chain Attack (SSB4).png|A Chain Attack against Bowser and Luigi in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U Category:Battle Flow Category:Mechanics Category:Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U